Researchers from CWI, the University of Antwerp, ETH Zürich, and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, have developed the first practical method to reconstruct the 3D position of all atoms inside a nanoparticle. Their breakthrough required a combination of statistical image modelling, discrete tomography, and state-of-the-art electron microscopy. The research, published in Nature on 2 February 2011, will allow researchers to better understand the three-dimensional structure of materials. This is important for the development of new catalysts, solar cells and better LED lighting.

Common methods of 2D image analysis in anthropological and biomedical applications are too sensitive to the presence of artifacts or outliers in the data. We study robust statistical methods suitable for high-dimensional information processing. The results acquired from practical anthropological and biomedical tasks demonstrate the benefits of methods based on robust statistics.

PROMISE is a network of excellence focused on the experimental evaluation of multilingual and multimedia information access systems. One of its key contributions is to develop and provide an open evaluation infrastructure, which brings automation to the evaluation process, managing, curating, and providing access to the scientific data produced during the evaluation activities.

The results of two studies --- actually collections of studies --- have been published just recently. These are the Europe-wide Interphone study and the Swiss National Research Program NRP 57, Entitled “Non-Ionizing Radiation – Health and Environment”. In few words, neither has identified measurable health dangers arising from cell-phone use --- but both recommend further study and caution.

In Stockholm, Sweden, there is a new initiative which looks to bring a new way of creating and funding cultural projects. The idea is to let citizens influence the distribution of funding for cultural projects. The concept combines private money with public money to fund the creation of culture, using a new technical platform.

On 17 May, IBM Research and the ETH/Z (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Zurich) opened the Binnig and Rohrer Nanotechnology Center on the campus of the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory in Rueschlikon, Switzerland. The name and the location are well chosen as it was here that Gerd Binning and Heinrich Rohrer invented the STM (Scanning Tunneling Microscope) some 30 years ago. They were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for this in 1986. The timing was also ideal as the opening helps IBM celebrate its centennial.